Chapter 107.

After finishing their meal and coming out of the cafeteria, it was still early in the day.

Zhen Zhen and Shui Huai Ming didn’t go home immediately, but took a detour to the playground.

The evening wind was soft, with a refreshing coolness that was very comfortable on the face.

There were young people playing soccer and children running around the playground.

Zhen Zhen and Shihua Ming watched and chatted with each other, feeling the vitality and vigor of the world.

It was as if they had become young at heart, a bit like the newlyweds who had not been reunited since they were married.

In the darkness of the day, the two left the playground to go home.

Now there is no one else in the house, after entering the yard, there is no need to care about other people, directly lock the yard door.

With no one around to disturb them, everything was done slowly.

After washing up, the two did not immediately sleep, but took the violin and lit a candle in the courtyard to cool off.

The evening breeze in the yard was cooler than in the house.

The leaves of the loquat tree rustled in the evening breeze, and Jenny played her violin next to the loquat tree, standing in the light of the candles.

Next door, Li Shuang and Wen heard the sound of the violin and dragged He Shuo and Liu Zhi to sit in their own yard.

They ate some fruit and melon seeds, and listened to the violin playing in the soothing evening breeze.

In such a night, listening to the melodious sound of the violin, will always remember a lot of things.

Thinking of the youthful encounter, think of the afternoon of drinking coffee and listening to music together, think of the quarrels that have had, have had laughter, but also think of those who were drenched in smiles and tears of the years, each time the moment of laughter and hilarity or tears.

Li Shuang said to He Shuo with a slight smile on his lips, “When we first moved back, we heard someone playing the violin next door, and thought it was Tong Tong Xing Yu learning to play the violin, but I didn’t expect it to be Zhen Zhen. When I found out later, I thought in my heart that she was just playing on a whim, but I didn’t realize that she had persisted in this way for ten years. Sometimes I really admire her, especially when I think of how she looked when she first came to the city, dumb and ignorant, like a child. Now, she’s the one amongst the few of us who lives the most calmly and elegantly.”

He Shuo certainly remembered how Zhen Zhen looked when she first came to the city.

The first time he saw her, she was playing with Dabai outside the door, and was talking to Dabai in a serious, amusing manner.

Thinking about how fast time flies, in a blink of an eye more than twenty years have passed.

Time has passed and moved the realm.

Dabai is gone.

Zhong Minfen was gone.

The children have all started their own lives.

Those past years seem to be like the sound of the piano, floating away in the night sky.

There are stars twinkling in the night sky, as if each one has its own story.

***

Early in the morning, the quiet hutong woke up in the first sunshine.

The courtyard door rattles, and early risers come out of the courtyard one after another, greeted with a good morning, and go to work together.

Before, there would be children chasing and yelling in the morning, but now only adults are left.

Even when they came out into the alley, there were only simple greetings, not the clamor of the past.

Li Shuang and Ah Wen were getting ready to go to work, and when they saw Zhen Zhen coming out of the courtyard, they naturally laughed and said to her, “The sun is beating down in the west, why did you get up so early today? You even went out with us.”

Zhen Zhen didn’t hide, naturally shook the thick envelope in her hand at them.

Li Shuang and Ah Wen understood, Li Shuang smiled again and said, “Have not passed the draft ah?”

Jen said, “Yeah, I have to keep submitting.”

Shizuku also smiled, “Don’t worry, just wait, sooner or later it will pass.”

They’re the closest people, so Jen didn’t try to be modest with the two of them, and smiled likewise, “I think so too.”

Every time she wrote a complete manuscript, she felt that it was a masterpiece for the ages, and sooner or later, it would be famous in the world.

Of course, she didn’t dare to have such great ambitions, this was just a recognition and encouragement for herself.

To write something, you have to be confident in yourself.

After leaving the hutong, Li Shuang and Wen went to work, and Zhen Zhen went to the post office to mail the manuscript.

Yesterday, I just went shopping, and after sending the manuscript, she did not go anywhere else, but came straight back.

Back home, close the door to the writing table and sit down, spread out the paper and pick up the pen, unscrew the ink and pen shell, put the tip of the pen into the ink bottle to suck a stomach of ink, screw the pen down to write.

After half a day of writing, she got up at noon to move her muscles and went to the kitchen to cook lunch.

There were only two people in the house, she and Shui Huai Ming, so she made less lunch and cooked it quickly.

Writing was more cerebral, so she took cooking as relaxation, and was very happy and relieved of stress.

When Servant Huai Ming returned home, he smelled the aroma of the house and was a little surprised.

The dinner table was brought to the table, and as he sat down at the dining table, he smiled and asked, “Is today any special day?”

Zhen Zhen also smiled and answered him, “Celebrating the fact that we’re back in the world of two again.”

Servant Huai Ming nodded, “It’s time to celebrate.”

He had an idea in his mind, and after he got off work in the evening, he took Zhen Zhen to celebrate again.

He booked a private room in a western restaurant and took Zhen Zhen to eat western food after work in the evening.

There are candles and flowers on the table, and the golden candlesticks have flickering flames.

Looking at this scene, Zhen Zhen couldn’t help but laugh, and laughed for a long time before stopping to speak, “If the children know, they will definitely say that we as parents have no heart and no lungs, and that they went away and became happy instead.”

Serving Huai Ming poured red wine into a glass and sent it to Zhen Zhen to put it down, “Who cares what they say? They’re all gone, and no one’s going to be calling out to their parents all the time, so who wouldn’t be happy?”

Zhen Zhen smiled and picked up the wine glass, gently swayed it twice and looked at Shi Huai Ming: “Then …… cheers.”

The service Huai Ming picked up the wine glass and she touched, the wine glass collision clink sound.

Zhen Zhen couldn’t hold her liquor and drank some more tonight.

When she went back, she was already unsteady, so Servant Huai Ming carried her back.

The night sky was dotted with a crescent moon, the moonlight could not reach the ground, the night color was deep and rich.

Zhen Zhen lay on Servant Huai Ming’s back, rambling and talking nonstop.

She said, “Third Brother, thank you.”

Thanks to him for forcing her to study in the first place, thanks to him for letting her have a dream and a different life.

Since opening her heart and being with him, she hadn’t suffered much, and her life was smooth and full.

He loves her, the kind of love that always leads her forward, the kind of love that always supports her and makes her fearless.

Because of him, she became a better version of herself.

Servant Huai Ming said, “I should thank you too.”

Thank her for loving him and liking him, creating different sweetness in different stages of years, accompanying him for ten years, twenty years, and the next half of his life. Thank her for letting him have the most fulfilling life, happy and without regrets.

The moon curved its hook.

Like the smiling face of the sky.

***

August 15th was the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Because the children had just left home not long ago, and they were all far from home, and some of them didn’t have family leave yet, they weren’t allowed to come back for the Mid-Autumn Festival. The adults got together for a reunion to create their own buzz.

The seven of them agreed to have dinner in the courtyard in the evening, drinking wine and enjoying the moon.

So when the sun went down in the west, several people worked together in the house, steaming glutinous rice to make mochi, and chopping meat and cutting lotus root and noodles to make lotus root boxes.

The crabs are naturally also indispensable.

The crabs were bought earlier and kept at home for two days.

Serving Huai Ming, He Shuo and Liu Zhi tied the crabs with grass ropes in the yard.

While tying them, Liu Zhi said, “I’ve grown up and I still don’t know how to eat this, it’s troublesome.”

He Shuo smiled and said, “You have to be patient to eat this, you can’t rush it.”

Before Shi Huai Ming could say anything, he suddenly heard a knock on the courtyard door.

He put the tied crabs in the pot and raised his head to look, only to see that it was the postman.

It was not unusual for the postman to come to his house, so he got up and wiped his hands on the door to collect the mail.

This half year down, and the mailman are mature people.

Handing the letter over, the postman smiled and said to him, “Chief, I see that today’s letter is very light, no surprises, it is possible that it is overdrafted.”

Taking a look at the address on the envelope, Servant Huai Ming directly tore the envelope open and looked at it.

After reading it he piled up a smile on his face and looked at the postman and said, “Wait a moment.”

Saying this, he turned around and went inside, taking two wrapped mooncakes out.

He gave the mooncakes to the postman and said to him with a smile, “It’s been hard on you.”

Looking at Shi Huai Ming like this, he knew that he must have been over drafted.

The postman didn’t let Shi Huai Ming down, but just took the mooncakes as a sign of good luck and said with a smile, “Thank you, sir, if you publish a book in the future, I’ll be sure to buy it.”

Serving Huai Ming sent the postman away, he came back to continue tying the crabs.

He Shuo looked at him and asked, “It sounds like I’m saying that your wife overdrafted?”

Servant Huai Ming nodded, but whispered, “Not yet.”

Liu Zhi smiled, “You want to create a surprise? Then don’t we still need to prepare some gifts?”

Servant Huai Ming did not politely talk to the two of them, “Then you guys just watch and do it.”

He Shuo: “Look at you!”

Without letting Zhen Zhen know about this, He Shuo and Liu Zhi found Li Shuang, Wen and Chen’s wife to talk about it first.

Together, they prepared gifts and quietly placed them under the loquat tree.

At night in the courtyard set the table.

Under the full moon, the food and wine were served one after another, and the aroma was overflowing.

A few people sat down and were preparing to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, the wine cups had not yet been poured, but suddenly heard a sentence: “Heh, this all eat up ah.”

The seven people turned their heads at the same time, only to see that it was He Ziran who had returned.

Nowadays, only He Ziran remained in Xicheng, but He Shuo and Li Shuang didn’t let him come back for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Seeing him come back, everyone was first stunned, then except for He Shuo and Li Shuang, they all greeted him and hurriedly sat down.

There were exactly eight people sitting on the eight centimeters table.

Zhen Zhen went to the house and brought another wine glass out, placing it in front of He Ziran.

He Shuo and Li Shuang didn’t have any temper, and only looked at him and asked, “What are you doing back here?”

He Ziran smiled and said, “I can’t come back for Mid-Autumn Festival?”

Li Shuang was nonchalant and put the bottle of wine directly in front of him, “Since you’re back, pour the wine for us.”

He Ziran still smiled and said, “Got it.”

The atmosphere on the table was already good, and with two glasses of wine, it was even better.

The degree of osmanthus wine is not high, Zhen Zhen is able to drink a few more cups, pinch the amount of not drunk on the line.

The table is talking about some lively topics.

Since He Ziran was back, the topic inevitably came to him.

Serving Huai Ming asked him on behalf of Li Shuang and He Shuo, “What are your plans for the future? Just hanging around like this?”

He Ziran did not look anxious at all, only smiled and said, “Mix two years first, I’m a little tired of mixing in Xicheng, I intend to pass this year, and then tomorrow to the south to mix a little.”

Now hear this kind of words are also lazy atmosphere, Li Shuang like an outsider, looking at He Ziran asked: “That you are still playing do not intend to get married ah?”

He Ziran said, “Marriage is nothing, there is no hurry.”

Li Shuang & He Shuo: “……”

And mentioning the matter of marriage, Mrs. Chen also had something to say.

She spoke out, “What’s wrong with you kids? Our Cheng Chen, too, didn’t know how to find a date even when he was in the army. How old are they now, and why aren’t they anxious about this?”

He Ziran laughed, “Auntie, a man should establish a career before starting a family, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Hearing He Ziran say this, Li Shuang couldn’t hold back a snort of laughter.

When Cheng Chen said that he would establish a career before starting a family, it was true that he had spent all his time and energy on his career, building his career step by step, and he had no time and no heart to talk to anyone. And he He Ziran, time are used to mix and fall in love.

Mixed to the present nothing, talking about love and do not mention the matter of marriage, do not know what in the end want to do.

He Ziran is the biggest asshole among all the kids in the hutong.

Of course, there are so many people in, Li Shuang did not not give face to He Ziran, snickering a little even if.

Today is to get together to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, unhappy words naturally should not say more.

Besides, the child is older, and even more asshole have to give him face.

The matter of starting a family, say a few words will be over.

The topic was changed to something else, drinking and enjoying the moon and eating mooncakes, and the atmosphere was still very good.

When the mid-autumn reunion dinner was almost over, Servant Huai Ming suddenly said, “Well, it’s almost time, I’m going to announce a happy event to everyone now.” With that, he got up and turned around to go to the house.

Everyone else knew what happy event Servant Huai Ming was going to say, so they all had smiles on their faces.

Only Zhen Zhen, who had been kept in the dark, and later He Ziran didn’t know, so Zhen Zhen and He Ziran’s faces were about the same color, and both of them were curious as to what happy event was suddenly to be announced.

A few moments later Squire Huai Ming came out of the house.

He held an envelope in his hand, sat down and scanned everyone before finally landing his gaze on Zhen Zhen’s face.

He looked at Zhen Zhen and did not speak immediately, Zhen Zhen curiously said, “What happy event?”

Her family’s happy event, why didn’t she know?

Servant Huai Ming did not move and took out the letter paper from the envelope.

Taking it in his hand and gently unfolding it, he cleared his throat and said, “Comrade Lin Zhen Zhen, how are you, your manuscript Returning to the Countryside has been adopted by this agency ……”

Hearing this, Zhen Zhen suddenly froze.

She looked at Servant Huai Ming and blinked, holding her breath as she listened to him read.

Then she suppressed the heartbeat in her chest and reached out to take the envelope and letterhead from Servant Huai Ming’s hand as soon as she could.

After reading all the information, she jerked her head up to look at Shi Huai Ming, and then at the other people.

Everyone was looking at her with smiles on their faces, knowing that they had known about this for a long time.

Without waiting for Zhen Zhen to say anything, Li Shuang got up first. She brought over the gift she had prepared and handed it to Zhen Zhen, saying with a smile, “I, on the other hand, am giving a fountain pen to our little Cotton, wishing you to write more, better and better works in the future.”

Zhen Zhen was still in a daze, and after reaching out to accept Li Shuang’s fountain pen, everyone else gave her their prepared gifts as well.

After the gifts were given, only He Ziran was left to smile awkwardly and said, “This is also …… no one told me about it …….”

Zhen Zhen puffed out a laugh.

She laughed for a while, and even her eyes got a little wet with laughter.

Then she collected her expression and said out loud, “Thank you everyone, I will definitely work harder!”

There were no gifts prepared, so they had to set the mood.

After Zhen Zhen finished saying this, He Ziran immediately raised his hands to applaud vigorously.

The applause drove the others, and instantly the courtyard crackled with applause.

Although it was just a simple over draft, and there wasn’t much money for the draft.

But everyone’s encouragement and recognition of her made her feel that it was an incomparable honor.

Tonight the moon in the sky was very full, the osmanthus wine was very fragrant, and the mooncakes were very sweet.

The moonlight and the warm orange light overlapped and melted together, illuminating the smiles at the corners of everyone’s mouths and eyes.

***

It’s hard to start everything, and that seems to apply to a lot of things.

Ever since Jen passed her first draft, it seemed to be much easier to pass drafts after that.

Her name appeared more often in newspapers and magazines, and after her writing style and stories were liked by more people, she slowly gained some fame and became a contracted author for magazines and newspapers.

Then, naturally, I relied on my own published works and applied to join the Writers’ Association.

After joining the Writers’ Association, she was finally able to accept being called a “writer”.

Although, she was just a small writer who contributed to a magazine column.

Although she was a small writer, she was not small at all.

Zhen Zhen ushered in her fiftieth birthday in an increasingly relaxed social environment.

Whenever someone in the hutongs has a birthday, several families get together and have a good time. After all, she’s half a hundred years old, and her birthday is less than once, and she doesn’t have a lot of decades left in her life.

This year, Li Shuang and Wen have been thinking about how to celebrate Zhen Zhen’s 50th birthday.

After some private discussions, Li Shuang came up with the idea: “She has been playing the violin for more than ten years, why don’t we organize a recital for her, so that she can go on stage for once, what do you think?”

This sounds quite interesting.

Although Zhen Zhen has been playing the violin for more than ten years as a hobby, but since she has practiced such a skill, she actually still wants to go on stage, after all, this is a hobby to go on stage ah.

Wen, Liu Zhi, He Shuo and Mrs. Chen all thought it was feasible.

They don’t want to make money or anything, but to fulfill Zhen Zhen’s dream of being on stage.

After discussing the matter in private, they went to ask Mr. Huai Ming for his opinion.

Mr. Huai Ming has been listening to Zhen Zhen play the piano for more than ten years, and has accompanied her since she started to play the noise. Of course, he is very willing to see Zhen Zhen stand on the stage one day, so he agreed to do it very simply.

Of course this gift is not something that can be given secretly.

So after discussing it, they found Jen together again and asked her, “What do you think?”

After Zhen Zhen heard everyone’s plan, her heart instantly grew yearning.

Because she had learned the zither late in life, and was not an exceptional talent, she played the zither as a self-indulgent hobby, and had never really thought of standing on a stage one day. But they had a plan, and naturally she wanted it.

But with a smile on her lips, she said, “It’s my birthday, and you still let me perform for you guys?”

Li Shuang laughed and blanked her, “Then we’ll give you a performance, do you want to watch?”

Zhen Zhen said, “Yes, I’ll be happy if you all play cotton flowers for me.”

Shizuku: “I don’t even know how to play cotton.”

They laughed as they talked.

Jen, of course, was only joking.

She thanked everyone from the bottom of her heart for coming up with the idea.

She really liked it.

Once it was finalized, the others immediately got busy.

Of course with their status, there was basically no difficulty in doing this kind of thing.

At the same time that they set the theater for the performance, they also went to the song and dance troupe to hire a backing band, and all the people they needed to have were found.

After these preparations were made, the rest was Zhen Zhen’s own business.

Previously, she had been learning the piano privately from her teacher or practicing at home by herself for her own amusement, but now she needed to work very carefully with the team to complete the performance.

Behind all the stages is the need for sweat.

Although it was a gift to herself, Jen did not treat it sloppily.

Everyone had spent so much money and effort to create this stage for her, so of course she had to take it seriously.

This was probably the only time in her life that she would play on stage, and she had to make the most perfect memories.

So for the rest of the day, Zhen Zhen devoted most of her time to practicing and rehearsing.

The troupe arranged for a professional teacher to guide her, treating her like a real player.

Under the strict and professional guidance of her teacher, by the eve of her birthday, Zhen Zhen had become very skillful in rehearsal.

Although she couldn’t help but feel nervous at the thought of going on stage, she felt that she shouldn’t smash it.

Before the recital began, the children returned one by one.

Zhen Zhen was too busy rehearsing and rehearsing to pay much attention to the children who were coming back, as her mind was on her performance.

Before the concert started, Zhen Zhen changed her clothes and put on her makeup backstage, her hands sweating.

The closer she got to the stage, the more nervous she became, and her heart was about to beat out of her chest.

In her entire life, she had never even spoken on stage, let alone performed.

Although she had made all the preparations and felt she was okay before, she still had stage fright as she approached the stage.

Sweat on her palms couldn’t be wiped away, and she held Dan Sui’s hand and said, “What should I do? What if I fail?”

Dan Sui understands the nervousness of the first time on stage, holding Jen’s hand back and told her, “Mom, it’s okay, the first time on stage will be nervous, it’s normal, anyway, you just need to remember, this is your own stage, as if it’s a rehearsal, not good, then start over, and there is no impact, do not be pressured.”

Zhen Zhen thought about it, this was her own stage for herself, her own birthday present, she didn’t need to have too much pressure. There was only one purpose for this performance – it was good that she was happy.

Jen took a deep breath and nodded at Tansuo, “Uh-huh!”

Tansui smiled, “Just have fun.”

Jen nodded again, “Uh-huh!”

Despite saying that, the nerves were still there.

When it was time to go on stage, Jen took several deep breaths backstage before she dared to go up.

After going on stage, she saw that the orchestra and the conductor were all seated, and then when she looked at the audience below the stage, she suddenly became even more nervous because there were actually a lot of people in the audience.

She originally thought that only people from the hutongs would come to see her and be an audience for her, but she didn’t expect that other people from the compound would also come, and many of them she didn’t know, and she didn’t know where they came from.

It was really killing her, and her hands were suddenly shaking as she held the piano.

She was the main character in this recital, so naturally the others didn’t rush her.

Jen tried to hold her breath to suppress her heartbeat, and pulled her gaze back from the audience to look at the conductor.

The conductor’s face was soft, waiting for her to begin, his eyes full of encouragement for her.

Simply too nervous, Jen adjusted for a while longer.

She couldn’t keep dragging her feet, so she finally took a deep breath, assumed the posture of playing the violin, and looked at the conductor to nod her head gently.

The conductor waved his baton and the accompaniment started first.

Jen tried to immerse herself in the accompaniment, but wasn’t quite able to do so.

She was late in entering, and when her heart panicked, the rhythm in her hands went right out of whack.

Jen dropped the strings and the accompaniment stopped at the conductor’s command.

Zhen Zhen instantly blushed and quickly said, “Sorry, sorry ……”

The conductor, still with a gentle frown, smiled and told her, “It’s okay, you can come back.”

At that moment Dan Sui also shouted from the audience, “Mom! Go for it! One more time!”

After Dan-soo shouted, everyone else in the audience cheered for Jen.

The theater had become less serious and formal, and Zhen Zhen’s tense nerves did loosen up a bit.

She looked at the conductor and the orchestra, and then at the audience.

Especially when she saw those people in the front row who loved and supported her, she slowly found the bottom of her heart.

She takes a deep breath and puts the strings back on the bow.

Nodding to the conductor, she relaxed a little more than last time.

But this relaxation wasn’t enough to allow her to play as she normally would, and she still didn’t give her full performance at first.

But after getting used to the stage and getting into a rhythm and groove, she got better and better.

The beams of light from the stage were hitting Zhen Zhen’s body, and little by little, she became more and more integrated into the stage.

After she got into a better state, she played better and better, and her body’s luster grew, like a blooming halo.

The music that flowed out from the stage was also mesmerizing to listen to, tugging at the emotions in one’s head.

Li Shuang was now a little more emotional than Wen.

Sitting in the dimly lit audience, she watched Zhen Zhen play emotionally in the lights of the stage, and listening to the slow, slow music, her eyes became wet without realizing it, and her eyes were filled with flashes of broken light.

He Shuo turned his head to see her from the side, and silently held her hand.

Returning to her senses, Li Shuang sniffled a bit, swallowing back the tears that didn’t come out of her eyes, and whispered with a bit of nasality in her voice, “I don’t know why, but every time I seriously listen to Little Cotton playing the zither, and listen to the sound of her zither, there’s always an urge to cry.”

He Shuo understands, because in Zhen Zhen’s zither, there is what they have experienced together, all the past.